


Janus

by coldthing



Category: Captain America (Comics), Marvel
Genre: M/M, spoilers for Secret Empire:Omega
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-01-17 20:24:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12373353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldthing/pseuds/coldthing
Summary: "He was your friend" Helmut, takes one of Steve's wrists and begins to massage the bruised flesh, to reassure himself that they are both real."Yeah" Steve, puts his arm around Helmut's shoulder, pulls him close presses their temples together "but you’re my brother"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is little more than a collection of plot bunnies because i'm a sucker for ships based on mutual gaslighting and trash. 
> 
> I need to reread some Thunderbolts back issues and if i find the direction the comics take interesting, then i'll see if i can't tease some Plot out of the quagmire of my brain.
> 
> the accompanying Bucky/Fixer plot bunny should be forthcoming.

"I'm sorry it took so long" Helmut Zemo says as he watches the guards unlock Roger's restraints, and file out of the quinjet, he adjusts his stolen uniform, there are still a lot of a Hydra agents still embedded in SHIELD and getting himself into the Shadow Pillar had been fairly easy.

Helmut takes his own mask out from his pocket, fingers the fabric, but doesn’t put it on.

"Not your fault Helmut" Steve says, he's rubbing his wrists like they still hurt.   Helmut shades his eyes from the sun and from the brilliant but slightly rueful smile that Steve flashes him.

"We're all set to go sir" the pilot says breaking the fragile silence.

Helmut closes the cockpit door behind them, leaving the pilots to their own space and letting him and Steve be alone together without bars for the first time in what felt like forever.

Steve reaches out, takes Helmut's wrist, pulling him in and presses his cheek into Helmut's stomach, his arm wrapped around his waist. He lets out a long breath, like he had been holding it for days.

Helmut reaches down, stroke’s Steve’s soft blond hair and enjoys in the closeness for a second before pulling away, taking a step back unsure of himself.  Unsure of where he stands now that the unthinkable has happened, one of Steven Rogers’s byzantine plans has failed. 

Steve reaches out, takes his wrist again and pulls him down to sit on the bench next to him.

   Helmut reluctantly lets himself be pulled down, Steve still has a bruise on his cheek, Helmut briefly wonders if the other Steve, the false one, had been the one to give his Steve that bruise, but then dismisses it.  If the two are anything alike, and he knows they are, then he wouldn't stoop to that kind of casual violence.

"Barns was there wasn't he" Steve asks, “in Washington?”  his fingers gentle against Helmut’s scarred cheek, he leans in for a quick kiss,  chaste and familiar, Helmut lets him.

"Yes" Helmut says as Steve leans back

"Of course, he was" Steve sighs, " we both underestimated him _again_ " Steve's voice is regretful.

"He was your friend" Helmut, takes one of Steve's wrists and begins to massage the bruised flesh. It isn't strictly necessary, Steve's accelerated healing will remove any marks within a few hours, but it’s Helmut's best excuse to touch Steve, to reassure himself that they are both real.

"Yeah" Steve, puts his arm around Helmut's shoulder, pulls him close presses their temples together "but you’re my brother"

Helmut makes strangled noise, and Steve lets Helmut turn his head, lets Helmut control the kiss for a change.


	2. Chapter 2

They are both flat on their stomach, hay sticking into their faces.

"You are a moron" Helmut curses, letting up on the German long enough to stick it to Steve in Steve's own mongrel language.

Steve has done something reckless again, something so incredibly clever it defies explanation, it was totally worth it to see the expressions on the other boy's faces but now Helmut has to make sure Steve doesn’t get the shit beaten out of him.

Narrow minded children who think strength only means how hard they can punch when Steve runs rings around them with his ability to understand and manipulate people.

"Worth it" Steve says, he's elated, his usually sallow cheeks are flushed and his Brooklyn accent   breaking through his carefully trained transatlantic diction.

Helmut reaches over, wipes Steve's bleeding nose with the cuff of his sweater, they're going to have to wash their clothes secretly later on, so their teachers don't find out, his sweater and the bloody collar of Steve's shirt, but Steve is right, _it was so worth it_.

Steve starts laughing, laughing so hard he almost starts wheezing, and coughing and that’s a sure-fire way to get them caught. So, Helmut reaches over, rubs hard between Steve's shoulder blades, until Steve begins to relax again, still giggling.


	3. Chapter 3

 It’s the first time he's seen Steve since he had returned to America and since Zola's 'treatment'.

" _Mein gott_ " Helmut says, Steve flushes a little, he still moves with the deliberateness of someone not quite used to their own size.

"Your bigger than me now" Helmut says, reaching out to pat Steve’s shoulders, measuring their breadth, "what are they feeding you"

Steve grins, lets out a familiar wheezy little laugh.

Helmut puts the palm of his hand to Steve's jaw, turns his face back and forth admiring him. It's still recognizably Steve Rogers but the gauntness and sallow color that had been the hallmark of his poor health are gone. The chin and cheek bones are filled out, the chin squared off, this is Steve cleansed of the limitations his childhood had placed on him, this is Steve purified and unadulterated.

Steve’s smile becomes embarrassed and he squirms under the attention.

He's wearing his America service uniform, it is not quite as nicely tailored as Helmut's, but it's clearly specially cut for Steve’s new massive physique.

Helmut straightens Steve’s collar appreciatively

“I’m just going to take it off” Steve says hotly as he swats Helmut's hands away.

 They are both grown men, they can't cuddle together like they did as boys, Helmut counting the ribs in Steve's back; But he wants to get his hands on all that new flesh and lay claim to it again.

Zola might have created it, but Steve had belonged to Helmut from the first second their eyes had met, and Steve had used Helmut sudden appearance to knee of his attackers in the groin.

Helmut shouldn’t have been so enamored by someone so completely ineffectual at violence, and not for lack of trying but Steve hadn’t even been able to bloody the boy’s nose before a teacher pulled them apart.

"How long can you say" Helmut leans in, ungloved fingers on Steve's chin, he kisses Steve chastely on the lips.

Steve's gaze softens "I gave Bucky the slip, the Americans shouldn’t miss me tonight." He says, bumps Helmut’s shoulder with his own before he starts unbuttoning his uniform jacket. He lets Helmut push his hands away from it and fumbles.

“Barns, the boy with covert ops?”

Steve shrugs “He puts me through my paces, it’s a pity he’s with them”

“Impressive for a 16-year-old” Helmut says, he remembers Steve at 16, he had had much of the faculty wrapped around his skinny fingers either through his innate charm or his ruthless machinations.

“He doesn’t have any tricks that I didn’t already know” Steve replies brightly as he unties his shoes, taking them off and setting them neatly aside.


	4. Chapter 4

The Winter Soldier catches them up to them in Stuttgart, emerging from the shadows like a bogyman to nail a shot into Steve's shoulder.

Helmut isn’t confident he can take the Winter Soldier in a fight, unfair or otherwise. Steve is down, bleeding from a chest wound that would have been lethal if not for his physiology and possibly the Soldier’s remorse.

The Winter Soldier charges, utterly silent save for the sound of his boots on the concrete, he is dressed for the occasion, forgoing his traditional domino mask for the filtration mask that obscures his jaw and nose. Despite the rage Helmut knows the Soldier must be feeling his brow is only slightly furrowed in concentration, he is implacable.

James Buchanan Barns is among the greatest hand to hand combatant’s in the world, perhaps an equal to Steve himself, and as much as Helmut   is loath to admit it, he is not Steve’s equal in this.

He only barely blocks the first strike, manages to twist away from a kick, but then there is suddenly a knife cutting through the air towards his throat and it's only the collar of his uniform that saves him from having his throat cut, but it’s a ploy, the soldier twists around with the ease of a dancer and his metal fist connects to Helmut's midsection, winding him.

Helmut hears the soldier scoff in disappointment, and tries to get his balance back, but the soldier isn't having it, he sweeps Helmut's feet out from under him, stomps on his back and then kicks him in the face.

The soldier is just winding up to kick him again when he freezes, and Helmut blinks dirt and blood out of his eyes to follow the soldier's gaze. Steve is getting to his feet, slowly, clearly till in a lot of pain, the Winter Soldier hesitates.

“Bucky” Steve says, his voice soft “please stop”

The soldier balks and seems surprised at himself for doing so, but it's all the window Helmut needs. He reaches for his sword, rolls to his feet and plunges the sword through the soldier's thigh . the soldier grunts in surprise, puts weight on his other leg, and Helmut lunges, gripping the soldier around the midsection and pushing him back.

                They both go down,        Helmut manages to knee the soldier in the solar plexus and a punch to the temple dislodges the filtration masks. Barnes's nose is bloody, and his lips are peeled away from his teeth in a snarl.

Helmut punches him again, snapping Barnes's head to the side, and then again, it feels too good, a catharsis of jealousy and envy that Barns had had Steve so close for so long and Helmut had been without.

Helmut grips Barns by the collar of his uniform, shakes him, Barnes's head flops to the side, his face is covered in blood "He was mine first, you hear me you dog, mine"

Barns roars, spittle hits Helmut’s cheek and he feels the crunch of bone as Barnes’s metal fist connects with his cheek, they roll over, Barnes’s now on top, but the fight seems to have gone out of him, he sags drunkenly to the side and then falls over unconscious.

Steve is slowly getting back to his feet, his jacket bunched up and pressed tightly against his wound.


End file.
